New member - Old C1P user

[HOWARDHB]

Greetings from South Africa.

It all began in 1981, (I was 15 years old) I was given, by a freinds dad, a Superboard II to "experiment" with... He had been using it to encode / decode Morse Code, on his Ham Radio.
I was so amazed, seeing a text reply, to my typed messge: "HELLO" from a Ham radio station in Canada.
Simply marvelous!

To begin, I first had to convert an old black and white Sony portable tv to accept composite video, and recall being violently shocked, more than once, by the high voltage coil !!!

I taught myself BASIC, and thereafter, assembly, by writing a "Space Invaders" clone. This ultimately influenced my study direction, and in 1984 entered college to study electronics, on a scholarship / bursary from the South African Post Office.
I upgraded to a C1P during that time.
Unfortunately, both the Superboard and C1P were stollen in a home invasion in 1985.

My first job, after (compulsory) Military Service, was producing various printed circuit boards, for a company that made home alarm systems, using the 6502 processor! I wrote the sub-routines that decoded the 7bit radio sensor addressing for that system.

Fast forward some 38 years...
Along the way I learned 'C', writing code for the 68HC11 micro controller, used in a "Spot Welding" timer that I helped design.
I also co-designed, built and coded, a custom "Eddy Current type" engine Dynomometer, for the local Volkwagen engine developement department.

Discovered PIC processors in the early 90's ( still have my PicStart Plus programmer ! )

Then Arduino's came...
Wrote some code for the MultiWii copter (drone) on-line project.

Nostalgia is a "slippery slope", and I find myself needing to recreate the "feelings" associated with such marvelous discoveries during my youth.
50+ year old Cox model engines in control-line aircraft and 40+ year old Kawasaki motorcycles have my attention these days...

Inevitably, I suppose, few weeks ago I began searching for a C1P, which led me here.
I found the various emulators on-line, but using them just does not bring back the same "feelings"... I need MORE!

Hopefully, a C1P will, somehow, find its way to me!

Howard

[dave]

Hi Howard, welcome!

It might be fun to build one of Grant's (Klyball's) 600D boards. Several here have done so, and a few are doing it now and sharing their progress. The population of Klyball 600D builders and kibitzers/coaches is a nice, congenial club.

Dave

[HOWARDHB]

Hi Dave!

I have been thinking about doing just that: my Ebay shipping cart is already loaded with 2716's, a 6850, 6502, 6821... but need a comprehensive partslist for Grants repro board.
Is a "kit" of parts available or is Ebay the right way to get my hands the bits... (pun intended!)

H.

[jbtech]

Hi,

There is a very good set of assembly instructions with component lists for the OSI 600 Rev. D PCB which can be found here:

https://osiweb.org/manuals/Superboard_I ... ctions.pdf

One correction to the component values - U29 is listed as a 7492 but should be 7493 as correctly shown in the circuit diagram.

There is also a clearer image of the circuit diagram here:

http://osi.marks-lab.com/boards/schematics/OSI600.pdf

Some of the components are still available from regular suppliers such as Mouser but many are obsolete and eBay a possible option.

Also, many of the logic ICs were original 7400 series parts which can be difficult to source, personally I chose to use 74LS series components throughout with good results though others report some issues when substituting 74LS types for original 7400 series.

It's a great project and a good alternative when an original OSI board can't be found, especially in regions where there weren't many to begin with.

Best of luck with it, regards John.

[HOWARDHB]

Thank-you John, most appreciated...

[ronin47]

I've just built a Klyball 600D and it has been a fun/frustrating project, though I got there in the end

I now have a 610 expander to build too

I fell foul of the U29 issue as I followed the BoM, but elsewhere it is shown correctly as an LS93.

Like John I used a mix of 7400 & 74LS parts, though in some cases, I found that LS variants caused issues. I had a 74LS04 at U21, and a weird flicker on the display. Changing to a 7404 resolved the issue, so I suspect that variations in timing etc can cause trip ups.

I also had to change U70 for a 7400 series rather than an LS as I was having some display instabilities.

Running well now though and once I can get the cassette input working (My CA3130 is either dead or a fake) it'll be finished in terms of build.

I need to start getting the 610 parts together, that's going to be a fun build I'm sure!

[HOWARDHB]

Kudos on your "perseverence" !

I have been searching for parts on Ebay, and when I find them, I add them to my shopping cart...
Question: The CA3130's that I found are from INTERSIL - CA3130E. Will they work?

H.

[ronin47]

Kudos on your "perseverence" !

I have been searching for parts on Ebay, and when I find them, I add them to my shopping cart...
Question: The CA3130's that I found are from INTERSIL - CA3130E. Will they work?

H.

Thanks!

The one I have that isn't working has an underscored 'i' logo as well as the chip number, so it could be Intersil, but looking at it closely under magnification I think it's a fake.

I think the ones you mention should be fine, but I've ordered some more from a trusted supplier and the new ones are RCA/Harris and do look rather more like the genuine item.